The 21 to 19 vote, mostly along party lines, came a week after Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R) asked legislators to revise the bill following protests on Capitol Square and repeated mocking on national television. Lawmakers amended the original bill, which mandated that women undergo a transvaginal ultrasound, a procedure that requires a probe be inserted into the vagina.

In a long and impassioned debate Tuesday, Democrats argued that the ultrasound procedure would be unconstitutional and costly, and that it was merely designed to discourage women from seeking abortions.

“Women who want to have abortions will go to back alleys. Women will die,’’ Sen. L. Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth) admonished her colleagues. “They are not going to let you tell them what to do with their bodies.”

“I think women have the right to know all of the medical information before they make a very important choice,’’ McDonnell said.

The Senate amended the bill to exclude women who have reported to law enforcement agencies that they are victims of rape and incest, but it did not exempt women who know that their babies would suffer from birth defects.

“The purpose of the bill is to make sure the mothers have more information as to the gestational age and physical development before making a decision as to the abortion,’’ said Sen. Stephen H. Martin (R-Chesterfield), who spoke during the debate.

A series of other amendments died that would have forced insurance companies to cover the cost of the ultrasounds or required the state to pick up the tab for women without health insurance. Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling (R), who presides over the equally divided Senate, cast three tie-breaking votes on the amendments.

Opponents of the bill, including Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia, NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia and the American Civil Liberties Union, said they have not decided whether to challenge the legislation in court should McDonnell sign it. Seven other states have similar laws.

The House and Senate had already approved versions of the ultrasound legislation. But a national uproar over the measure and opponents’ graphic detail of the ultrasounds in early pregnancies led McDonnell — an abortion opponent — to intervene.

Sen. Janet D. Howell (D-Fairfax) described the original version of the bill as “state rape’’ and said the new version is tantamount to “state assault.”

“Very rarely do I get angry, but I am angry about this bill,’’ she said. “It reflects an attitude that is demeaning to women. It presumes the legislature — which as we look around is virtually all male — knows better what should happen to a woman’s body than the woman herself and her physician.’’

Sen. Richard L. Saslaw (D-Fairfax) tried unsuccessfully to have the measure be reconsidered next year — a maneuver that has worked on other contentious bills.

“This is just a senseless procedure to make some people, I guess, feel good and put another obstacle up in the way of people who are trying to access that process,’’ Saslaw said. “It serves no useful purpose.”

The debate was postponed Monday after Republicans hunted for votes. By Tuesday, the vote was widely expected, and responses from advocacy groups came minutes after the legislation passed.

“Pro-life Virginians, not cast members of ‘Saturday Night Live,’ sent legislators to this General Assembly through their vote to pass legislation like this because they understand that abortion is an invasive and risky procedure and that the abortion industry simply cannot be trusted put the woman’s health and safety ahead of its profits,’’ said Victoria Cobb, president of the conservative Family Foundation.

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